A View From Above (2009-2016)

A View From Aboveis a series of paintings made between 2009 and 2016, consisting of large (60 x 48 inch) wide-angle views and smaller (10 x 8 inch) 'glimpses' of toy figures against a blank landscape.

Instigated by continued interest in surveillance within public space, these paintings borrow from the downward looking gaze associated with technologies of observation (e.g. CCTV cameras, Google-earth or live streamed city webcams). The work in the series focuses on the all-seeing and ever-present aspect of modern image-based surveillance. As the title indicates, these paintings are about the gaze, the act of viewing itself. The use of toy figures as passive ‘actors’ in their constructed landscape is motivated by a view that observation of this type is ultimately oppressive.